Surigao Del Norte lawmaker MISLEADS in claiming anti-drug campaign under Marcos is ‘bloodless’

VERA Files
October 27, 2023

In several news reports, Surigao Del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chair of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, described the anti-drug operations under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as “bloodless.” This is misleading.

STATEMENT

On Oct. 15, a statement quoting Barbers appeared in news reports lauding Marcos’ anti-illegal drug campaign. It reads in part:

“It’s a bloodless war. It shows that we can slay the dragon that is the drug menace without lives’ lost.”

Source: Manila Bulletin, Ranking solons hail PBBM’s ‘bloodless drug war’ after Duterte hits House, Oct. 15, 2023; Philippine News Agency, PBBM’s bloodless drug war negates int’l watchdog’s condemnation, Oct. 15, 2023; NET25, Bloodless Illegal Drug Campaign ni PBBM Suportado ng Liderato sa Kamara, Oct. 17, 2023

This statement came six days after Barbers, during a hearing of his committee on Oct. 9, reported that law enforcement agencies had seized around P30-billion worth of illegal drugs since the start of the Marcos administration.

FACT

While Marcos has vowed that his administration’s anti-drug campaign will have a “new face,” centered on rehabilitation and addressing drug dependence, it is not bloodless. The Dahas Project of the Third World Studies Center in the University of the Philippines has recorded 438 drug-related killings from July 1, 2022 to Oct. 15, 2023.

From this number, 195 state agents were involved allegedly as assailants in the reported drug-related killings, according to Dahas, which collects its data from news items citing law enforcement officers on the ground.

(See Who says Marcos war on drugs is ‘bloodless’? and VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Disparity in body count of drug war victims explained)

However, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has recorded a 52% decrease in drug-related fatalities in its operations, from 40 in 2020 – 2021 to 19 from July 2022 – Sept. 2023, based on its report to lawmakers during the Oct. 9 public hearing of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

BACKSTORY

In February, Barbers expressed his “full and unequivocal” support for House Resolution No. 780 that declared the “unequivocal defense” of former president Rodrigo Duterte in any investigation/prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

(See AT A GLANCE: House resolution to support Duterte vs ICC probe)

The resolution came 20 days after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I allowed the prosecution to resume its investigation of the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country, related to the anti-illegal drug war campaign of the Duterte administration.

(See ICC resumes full-blown investigation into Duterte administration’s drug war)